The Artemis-I Orion spacecraft is prepared for the final set of environmental tests at NASA's Plum ... [+]
NASA is reporting that its Orion spacecraft, which is scheduled to fly to the moon in just over a year, and take US astronauts to the lunar surface in four years, has completed its three-month test campaign at NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio.
The capsule—named the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle—was subjected to the extreme temperatures (-250 to 300-degrees Fahrenheit) and electromagnetic environment it will experience in its April 2021 test mission to the moon.
NASA’s Orion spacecraft–the crew module and European-built service module—is being lifted into a ... [+]
What is Artemis-1?
That uncrewed flight test mission, called Artemis-1, will see the first test of the Orion spacecraft and NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS)—the most powerful rocket in the world—together. The three week, 1.3 million miles mission will take Orion to a whopping 38,000 beyond the moon, then just 62 miles from the lunar surface. After many tests of equipment and manoeuvres, Orion will return to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
What is Artemis-2?
Then Orion will take a crew of four US astronauts around the moon in September 2022’s Artemis-2 mission—the first flight of people beyond low Earth orbit in over 50 years.
What is Artemis-3?
Two years later NASA’s Artemis-3 mission will land the first woman and next man on the lunar South Pole by 2024, the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972. The journey will take the astronauts via NASA’s yet-to-be-built Gateway in lunar orbit.
Orion is made of three main sections. From the left: (1) The service module, from the European Space ... [+]
What is Orion?
Orion is the crew vehicle for NASA’s Artemis missions, though it will probably also be the default capsule used for future missions to Mars. It can take four astronauts in total, which is the first clue that Orion is larger than the capsules used in the Apollo missions. It’s got three parts; a launch abort system (LAS), a crew module and a service module.
Illustration of Orion performing a trans-lunar injection burn.
While the Apollo missions consisted of a small command module and a large service module, Artemis will be the opposite; a small service module (a 4m-long cylindrical module mostly built by Airbus Defence and Space on behalf of the European Space Agency) and a larger command module—Orion. Orion also has solar arrays, which gives missions more flexibility.
Orion had its first flight test in 2014 when it launched from Florida and flew two orbits around the planet over 4.5 hours.
Inside the Orion capsule
Constructed largely by Lockheed Martin, the Orion capsule may look very similar to the Apollo capsules of the late 1960s and 1970s, but they are different beasts. The larger Orion can carry up to six astronauts to Apollo’s three. Orion is 4ft. wider, but has significantly less mass.
Engineers and astronauts conducting testing in a representative model of the Orion spacecraft at ... [+]
Spacesuit engineers demonstrate how four crew members would be arranged for launch inside the Orion ... [+]
Spacesuit engineers demonstrate how four crew members would be arranged for launch inside the Orion ... [+]
On Feb. 25, NASA successfully tested the attitude control motor (ACM), which is built by Northrop ... [+]
Is it safe?
Just in case something goes wrong at launch or shortly after, the Orion capsule is fitted with a launch abort system (LAS), a small rocket-powered system with 7,000 pounds of thrust that could take the crew clear of the launch site. The capsule would then use parachutes to safely splashdown from 31,000 feet in the Atlantic Ocean. It was successfully tested in July 2019.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes
